Saturday, April 28, 2007

A couple of nights ago, I accompanied my mom to pick up my brother Asyraf from his hostel. We left the house right after performing Maghrib prayer. On the way to Tumpat where my brother’s hostel is situated, I realized that my state, Kelantan was not the same as it was in the previous two months. Last two months, I came home for a short holiday, running away from the hectic campus life. This difference now was very apparent especially when the night came. All I can see were more neon lamps were lighting up the roads, more new food stalls were run and the city seemed that it would never fall asleep again. People are too busy even at night! I felt a little excitement seeing all those latest things. It won’t get that far if you want to find a good restaurant or a food-stall with cheap tasty foodstuff, just in case if your stomach suddenly starts growling when you are driving on the road.

“Wow, look at that! It’s very attractive!” I pointed out towards a dazzling new restaurant as we passed by it.

“It was opened last three weeks,” said mom.

“Really?” I was quite amazed upon knowing that because from my mom’s UNSER, I noticed that almost all the tables arranged outside that restaurant were fully occupied.

The customers were eating leisurely with either their friends or relatives. D’Kantan is its name. The premise was actually an old wooden house rent by the family of my sister’s teacher. When they moved out, the place was turned into a restaurant with some renovation made. There is a pergola at the centre of the compound. The landscape looked like matches the theme of the restaurant, the feel of countryside. I assumed that the owner of this place is an opportunist since he can draw attention of more people than other restaurants nearby. That’s one of the criteria to become a successful businessman, “being able to read and interpret the situation by thinking differently”.

As we were arriving at Asyraf’s hostel, I came to a thought that the lifestyle of today’s society is one of the causes of escalating number of serious diseases people are suffering from; the diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerosis, stroke, myocardial infarction, angina and variety of fatal diseases in the list to complete the whole package. Going out to the workplace early at dawn, coming home late at dusk, going out again for dinner in the middle of the night and getting to bed only when the first dew dropped onto the head…these are the common scenario now. It’s good to eat outside at night to release the burden of day works but a habit of having a heavy meal at midnight, for example, isn’t good for human health. Yes, this is what’s taking place around us.

As a matter of fact, my dad (may Allah shower His blessing upon his soul) died 4 years ago because of hypertension which then led to stroke. His body was half-paralysed for one month before he passed away. There was one habit that he had not left before he was diagnosed as a diabetic patient and being hospitalized right after that; having tea or coffee at any coffee-house nearby our home or his office, in the night or in the day. Everybody knows that the tea or coffee sold in many coffee-houses is over-filled with sugar and it feels nice to the tongue. Luckily, after several days admitted to the university hospital, the blood glucose level returned to normal. It was not the end of the story as dad’s blood pressure level was still far beyond the border-line and that made him suffer from stroke until the end of his life.

What I want to share here is that, we have to watch our diet & lifestyle carefully because they can become a silent killer of ourselves if they are not well-managed. Even our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had said that most of the diseases are derived from the stomach. Muhammad was not a medical doctor or a physiologist but he knew about this fact and reminded people to eat and do things moderately. I also agree with my Biomedicine professor’s sensible words, Dr. Naeem Hassan Khan;

“Early to bed, early to rise…Keeps man healthy, wealthy and wise”

These words seem to have been taken for granted today. Accordingly, will we become a true wealthy and wise man only by sacrificing our health? Aha, whatever the situation is, bear in mind that you can make a change!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Is the statement surprising enough for you and me to hear? I don’t think so, no more. Just see what is happening around us. Today’s world is full of incessant entertainment, many reality TV shows are conducted day and night, and numbers of so-called “talented stars” are groomed here and there. Akademi Fantasia, Malaysian Idol, One in a Million, and Gang Starz are to name a few. The youngsters now knew how to vote for their favourite “idol” via SMS, spending just a few cents is a small matter as long as the idol wins the competition by any means. Their action is very similar to those of many Western people and this is what they proudly called as globalization and modernization, “we can do what they do”. Some of them even fell asleep while typing the code of their idol. Unable to finish up typing, they continue it immediately in the next morning. By hook or by crook, the SMS must be sent before the time expired because the idol must win! Yeah, they do know very deeply on how to vote for their favourite stars but they all have no idea on how to vote for their next leaders. Very amazing!

Of course these kinds of people, the generation of tomorrow, do not care what are happening on the other side of the world since they only know about their fantasy world. The extreme hedonism is already strongly instilled in their mind, heart and soul. What make it worse is that the government and many NGOs are also supporting and encouraging them. When the leaders are willing and keep promising that this entertainment sector will be allocated with a very high budget, they feel complacent. So, how can we insist them to register when they are indirectly protected?

“I don’t mind who will be the next leaders of this country, as long as I can mind my own business”.

“I believe that Malaysia is a very peaceful country and this will last in next decades no matter who the leaders are. We all love peace, right?”

Thinking about this, I ask myself, what is happening to my people? I compare them with the other young people in other nations. I see that the ones who lead the demonstrations against injustice, cruelty and violence in those countries are young men and women. I see that the ones who are taking part in the army and fighting bravely in the battle field to protect their holy homeland, Palestine, are the young men and women. But, what do my country has? I don’t really know but I may understand.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

According to Edward de Bono, the six thinking hats are white hat, yellow hat, red hat, black hat, green hat and blue hat. Human thinking can be categorized under these six thinking hats and each has its own criteria and characteristics. Below are the descriptions regarding the type of thinking, imagination, functions, applications and questions of all color of the hat. So, what kind of “hat” you are “wearing” today? Let’s check it out!

WHITE HAT:

- Analytical thinking- Clean white paper- Seeks for facts and information, looks into unproven facts, strives to get more figures, uses experience and knowledge- Concerns in getting facts and information- Can I know about this? Can you translate the data?

YELLOW HAT:

- Constructive thinking- Sunshine, a bright day- Driven by optimism, looks for something good, looks into possibilities, strives to achieve effectiveness in new idea- Produce concrete ideas for improvement- What’s the benefit? Who gets the benefit?

RED HAT:

- Emotional thinking- Heart shape, fire- Symbolizes feelings and emotions, uses a lot of value system, uses fear, intuition and suspicion, looks into other’s feelings- Makes correct judgments and decisions- What do you feel? Is this preferred by everybody?

BLACK HAT:

- Critical and negative thinking- Darkness, black coat- Not good, gloomy, negative assessment, tells what is wrong, points out problems, risks and dangers- Points out negative side of thing matters- Is this right? Can we do this?

GREEN HAT:

- Creative thinking and provocative- Plant, tree, leaves- Looking for alternatives, provides new perceptions, tolerates ambiguities, accepts contradiction- Generate new ideas and concepts- How can we solve this problem? Do you have any idea?

BLUE HAT:

- Thinking about thinking- Color of the sky- Gives an overview of the whole discussion, a process of control, makes tentative program for a meeting- Judges and controls the situation- How far have we progressed? Are we developing?